This invention relates to the ventilation of the engine bay of an automotive vehicle.
Most automobiles have the engine bay located at the front of the vehicle. Typically an internal structural cross-member bridges the front of the bay and supports the radiator that is a part of the engine's cooling system. When the vehicle is equipped with air conditioning, the condenser mounts in front of the radiator. The radiator and condenser are cooled by air that passes through them, the air either being forced through the radiator and condenser by ram air effect when the vehicle is in forward motion, and/or by being drawn through the radiator and condenser by a fan or fans located directly behind the radiator and condenser. As a result, the engine bay is ventilated by air that has been heated by the radiator and condenser. Before this air leaves the engine bay, it is further heated by the heat emitted directly by the engine. Consequently elevated temperatures can occur in the engine bay and at other locations that are exposed to the heated air leaving the engine bay. These elevated temperatures may be sufficiently high to create thermally induced problems in certain areas or components of an automotive vehicle.
The present invention relates to a new and unique arrangement for ventilating an engine bay to reduce temperatures. The invention involves the use of a ducted fan or fans to draw cooling air through the radiator and condenser and to convey the drawn air out of the engine bay so that hot effluent from the radiator and condenser does not ventilate the engine bay. The invention further involves the radiator and condenser mounting on an internal structural cross-member that bridges the front of the engine bay but with the radiator and condenser covering only a limited portion of the total open area of the cross-member. The remainder of the open area of the internal structural cross-member remains open so that ram air passes through this remaining open area to ventilate the engine bay.
While the use of ducted fans in association with the radiator of a motor vehicle is not broadly new, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,344 and German OS No. 26 32 166, the prior art usage is for heating the engine bay. Moreover, the prior art does not integrate the ventilation system with an internal structural cross-member of the vehicle in the manner contemplated by the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is believed to constitute a significant development for reducing temperatures in the engine bay and at locations that are exposed to air that has ventilated the engine bay.
The foregoing features, advantages and benefits of the invention, along with additional ones, will appear in the ensuing description and claims which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings disclose a preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode contemplated at the present time in carrying out the invention.